BMW PGA Championship - Round 1 Wrap

Paul McGinley has never made any secret of his love affair with the West Course and here yesterday he did everything but fall to his knees and start kissing Surrey's most famous piece of turf. An opening 65, that gave him the first round lead of the BMW PGA Championship, no doubt helped intensify this affection, although the Dubliner had a point to make amid all that salivating.

"When it's playing hard and like this, this is a real test of golf, a proper test," he declared. "We're not tested enough on course management anymore. A lot of the courses we play are soft and one-dimensional." McGinley did not go so far as to say that the modern golfer is thus soft and one-dimensional. Yet he would not be alone in believing it.

In fact, the demise of the shot-maker is lamented throughout the game. True, there is Tiger Woods, but how many chances does he get to parade these skills? Indeed, how many chances do any of the professionals get, including McGinley, who plotted his way around yesterday by chasing two-irons off the tee up the bone-dry fairways and, on the sixth, purposefully aimed a wedge 20 feet left of the pin? "It is the substantial majority," he confirmed when asked how many of the Tour's venues fall into the "long and one-dimensional" category. "Everyone just thinks 7,500 yards is the future of golf. But firm and fast is what makes courses tough for us.

Another push for golf at the Olympics

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem offered his support Tuesday for golf to become an Olympic sport, an endorsement that could give golf its strongest chance since it was dropped from the Olympic program more than 100 years ago.

"While there remain questions to be answered and issues to be resolved, I believe the time is now right to move forward," Finchem said on a blog he posted on the tour's Web site.

Because the International Olympic Committee requires seven years for a sport to be added, the earliest golf could be part of the Olympics is 2016. The IOC will meet next year to vote on a host for the 2016 Games and decide whether to include additional sports.

Any bid would have to come through the International Golf Federation, which the IOC recognizes as golf's ruling body for the Olympics. It is run jointly by USGA executive director David Fay and Royal & Ancient Golf Club chief executive Peter Dawson.

Golf last was played in the Olympics in 1904, with Canadian George Lyon winning the gold medal.

It almost was part of the Atlanta Games in 1996 - at Augusta National, no less - until IOC member Anita DeFrantz and others criticized the club's all-male membership, and the fact it had only recently taken a black member.

The last attempt for Olympic golf came in 2005.

"It failed for a pragmatic reason," Fay said. "It's not going to succeed unless the professional tours are behind it. We haven't had the professional bodies express support for it since Atlanta."

Finchem said golf as an Olympic sport would promote growth around the world. And while he mentioned that golf already has four majors, three World Golf Championships and The Players Championship, he thought there was room for golf in the Olympics...

Click to read the complete article

PGA to start drug testing - Breaking Golf News

In breaking golf news today it is expected that the PGA will announce performance enhancing drug testing to possibly start in 2008. While no official word has been received the rumour mills are running hot with countless stories on the television and Internet.

The PGA has held out testing their players for performance enhancing drugs, but looks to be bowing to the increasing pressure to come up with a solid drug policy.

Stay tuned for more information!

Golf begins to change: My thoughts on the FedEx Cup

Firstly I must say that I enjoyed the fact that the golf heavyweights have tried something new. Golf is a game of deep tradition and making changes in no easy feat, but were these changes good for the game?

I have read many articles and opinions on the FedEx Cup and at the moment I must say that the general feelings are leaning towards the negative side. The negative argument focuses on a few key problems that people had with the format

• Players pulling out - people hate it when big players pull out of tournaments for obvious reasons. There is also the conspiracy theories that say that the players were asked to pull out so that the FedEx Cup stayed alive until the last tournament.
  
• Not everyone can win it (realistically) - Some people are complaining that it isn't a true playoff unless everyone has the chance to win it. Maybe the PGA should have called it something other than a playoff to curb this? I personally think it is only fair that the better players throughout the season have a greater chance of winning because they deserve it. However, maybe they could make the points gap slightly less to have more players with a realistic chance of winning.
• They interfered with tradition - Replacing, demoting or changing the Western Open and the Texas Open has not gone down well with traditionalists. Hell the Western Open is the 3rd oldest golf tournament in the world - some people are not happy!
• The event was geared for Tiger to win it - One opinion I don't agree with, but some people are saying they picked all his favourite courses and they wanted him to win. I think that a having a close run think would have been better for golf and that I am sure they would have preferred the cup to come down to the last hole.
  

Along with these arguments many people are saying it wasn't close enough, it was boring, I couldn't get into it and the system was too confusing (this is backed up by my results - over 500 people have viewed my FedEx Cup Explained article!)

Maybe the real question should be was it the wrong era to introduce this tournament? Is golf becoming like mens tennis, which is boring and predictable because the same man wins it every time? The FedEx Cuop might fail simply because one of (if not) the greatest golfer is at his peak and the competition is not close enough to make it interesting. In the end Tiger deserved to win, but maybe we just wanted to see a close game.

Feel free to leave your comments on this issue. I will try to respond to everyone.
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Golf: FedEx Cup - Who can still win it (and how)

Well as promised this post will be all about the possible scenarios that can occur this weekend at the Tour Championship for each player still in the hunt to win the FedEx Cup. The top 5, unless Tiger is injured/pulls out, are the only ones who have a chance of taking out the Cup, so lets have a look at what can still happen.

(If you are looking for how the FedEx Cup works then you can read my earlier article FedEx Cup Explained - it includes info on prize money, point allocations and more )

How Tiger can win the FedExCup

If Tiger finishes	Opponent Scenarios
1st	He wins the FedEx Cup
2nd	Stricker can win (with a 1st place finish)
3rd	Mickelson and Striker can win (with a 1st place finish)
4th-5th	Stricker can win (with 1st or 2nd place) Mickelson with a 1st place
6th-13th	Stricker or Mickelson can win (with a 2nd place or better)
14th-19th	Sabbatini can win (with 1st place) Mickelson or Stricker win (with 2nd place or better)
20th-21st	Sabbatini can win (with 1st place) Mickelson win (with 2nd place or better) Stricker win (with 3rd or better)
22nd-30th	Sabbatini or Choi can win (with a 1st place) Mickelson win (with 2nd or better) Stricker win (with 3rd or better)

How Stricker can win the FedEx Cup

If Stricker finishes	Opponent Scenarios
1st	He takes home the cup
2nd	Mickelson can win (with a 1st place), and Woods can win (with a 3rd place or better).
3rd	Sabbatini can win (with 1st place), Mickelson with a second and Woods with a 19th or better
4th or worse	He can not catch Woods

How Mickelson can win the FedEx Cup

If Mickelson finishes	Opponent Scenarios
1st	Woods would wins with a solo 2nd
2nd	Stricker can win with a tie for 2nd, and Woods can pass him with a 5th
3rd	He can not catch Woods

How Sabbatini can win the FedEx Cup

If Sabbatini finishes	Opponent Scenarios
1st	Mickelson would win with a solo 2nd
1st	Stricker would with a two-way tie for 2nd
1st	Woods would win with a two-way tie for 13th

How Choi can win the FedEx Cup

If Choi finishes	Opponent Scenarios
1st	Mickelson would win with a 2nd place
1st	Stricker would win with a 3rd place
1st	Woods would win with a 21st or better

Assuming Tiger is the man to catch (and he is) this little table gives a run down of where Tiger needs to finish for them to win the Cup (assuming they win this tournament).

Player	FedExCup Points	Can win the FedExCup if he wins and Woods finishes
Steve Stricker	109,600	Solo second or worse
Phil Mickelson	108,613	Tie for second or worse
Rory Sabbatini	103,588	Tie for 13th or worse
K.J. Choi	103,100	22nd or worse

Final Thoughts
Firstly I hope that made some sense and helps you understand what must happen for each player to win. Golf is a strange game and can throw up some strange events at times, but I think that Tiger will take the inaugural FedEx Cup home and win 10 million for his retirement fund.

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Golf News: Deutsche Bank Championship - FedEx Cup Playoff 2

Phil Mickelson got the break early, and battled Tiger Woods shot-for-shot down the stretch to win the Deutsche Bank Championship earlier today. The win is his 32nd on the Tour, and it gives him the FedExCup points lead with just two events to go.
In what was a great victory for the big left hander he matched Tiger in an everything-you-can-do I-can-do-too battle. Phil himself told reporters that he has struggled against Tiger for 10 years and that his record is pathetic and that it felt great to be able to match Tiger.

The top ten:

1	Phil Mickelson	USA	-16
2	Tiger Woods	USA	-14
2	Aaron Oberholser	USA	-14
2	Brett Wetterich	USA	-14
5	Aaron Baddeley	AUS	-11
6	Geoff Ogilvy	AUS	-10
6	Rory Sabbatini	SAF	-10
8	Robert Allenby	AUS	-9
9	Fredrik Jacobson	SWE	-8
9	Steve Stricker	USA	-8
9	Troy Matteson	USA	-8
9	Camilo Villegas	COL	-8

In the FedEx cup standings there have been some big movers in both directions. Good results from Aaron Oberholser and Brett Wetterich have moved them from 67 and 51 to 29 and 22 respectively.
The top 10 on the Fedex cup standings are as follows:

		Phil Mickelson		108,613
		Steve Stricker		106,200
		Tiger Woods		103,733
		K.J. Choi		102,900
		Rory Sabbatini		102,388

		Vijay Singh		99,108
		Jim Furyk		98,963
		Geoff Ogilvy		97,954			2
		Adam Scott		97,827
		Zach Johnson		97,623

Next week the FedEx cup playoffs move to the Cog Hill golf and country club for the BMW championship with only the top 70 in the FedEx cup points remaining.

Golf News: The Barclays - FedEx Cup playoff 1.

Steve Stricker has won the 1st FedEx Cup event The Barclays in an amazing finish. When hope seemed to be lost he birdied four of his last five holes to close with a 2-under 69, turning a one-shot deficit into a two-shot victory over South Korean K.J Choi.

This is Strickers fourth PGA tour victory and his first in four years. It was a welcome tournament win after wasting four prime chances to win on the tour this year.


The top 10 at the Barclays were:

1	Steve Stricker	USA	-16	268	67	67	65	69	F
2	K.J. Choi	KOR	-14	270	64	66	70	70	F
3	Mark Calcavecchia	USA	-12	272	67	75	65	65	F
3	Ernie Els	SAF	-12	272	65	71	68	68	F
3	Geoff Ogilvy	AUS	-12	272	68	66	69	69	F
3	Rory Sabbatini	SAF	-12	271	63	71	69	68	F
7	Rich Beem	USA	-11	273	64	68	69	72	F
7	Phil Mickelson	USA	-11	273	67	70	69	67	F
9	Jerry Kelly	USA	-10	274	67	70	69	68	F
9	Ian Poulter	ENG	-10	274	70	67	70	67	F
9	Robert Garrigus	USA	-10	274	70	70	68	66	F

So there is some change in the FedEx cup standings and the top ten are as follows:

1		Steve Stricker
2		K.J. Choi
3		Rory Sabbatini
4		Tiger Woods
5		Phil Mickelson
6		Vijay Singh
7		Jim Furyk
8		Zach Johnson
9		Adam Scott
10		Ernie Els

This should make the competition even more interesting as it continues at the Deutsche Bank Championship next week.
Overall I think the jury is still out on the FedEx Cup, but so far I have enjoyed what I have seen and will reserve my judgement until the final tournament is played.

Welcome to my golf blog

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Hi I am Tom and I am from Australia. I am a very keen golfer and I love across the road from my local course giving me ample time to get frustrated with my favourite game each week.
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• Golf News - Including PGA tour news and Fed Ex Cup (special features on all of the majors: The masters, British open, PGA championship and the US open.
  
• Golf professionals - interviews and profiles (including Tiger Woods of course!)
  
• Golf Quotes

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